I saw you have an XBee module in your model car. Cool. Design News contributor Jon Titus has a book, "The Hands On Xbee Lab Manual," that has a lot of good information about to how to use these small wireless devices beyond basic controls. Excellent project and inspiring for fellow students and experimenters. Nice job.

the instructions are written to be broad because the different models of RC cars have different boards and board layouts however MOST use the same chip so the instructions are for taking over control from this type of RC chip, thus the instructions can be used for many different types of RC cars you simply attach the wires to the same pins on the IC chip and you are ready to roll

kinda? the PC board is to hold the headers in place so they dont shift around and you can connect them all at once.

i didnt include the arduino in the BOM because this will work with ANY 5v microcontroller and is not arduino specific

i believe i did include code when i sent in my materials for the article but i will look into that. the code is REALLY simple so with about 5 minutes you could knock out some basic fwd bckwd left right control on any microcontroller

I was just speaking to a colleague of mine who did this exact project this past summer. He is a big RC fanatic. I hope Arduinos become mainstream in RC development. Who knows where RC will go after that.

Followers of Design News’ Gadget Freak blogs will have the opportunity next week to take home a wireless remote demo package that can be used to build garage door openers, tire pressure monitors, keyless entry systems, and much more.

The 2015 Gadget Freak of the Year goes to the DDV-IP -- or, a Drink Deliver Vehicle – Inverted Pendulum. The gadget is a two-wheeled self-balancing robot that can deliver cold beverages to thirsty folks on a hot summer day. A wireless RF remote enables manual control of the device beyond the act of self-balancing. All of the features of the DDV-IP result in an effective delivery vehicle while providing entertainment to the users.

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